Steal My Code!

The Short Version

All code on this site is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). That means you can use it, modify it, share it, and even use it commercially—just give credit and indicate if you made changes.

Fair warning: This code is developed and tested in my home lab. What works in my small environment might not be production-ready for your enterprise. Always test before you deploy.

How to Give Credit

Attribution is simple. At the top of your script or in your documentation, include something like this:

# Original code from Mike Kanakos
# https://commandline.ninja/your-article-name/
# Modified by [Your Name] on [Date]

Or in documentation:

“Based on code by Mike Kanakos from commandline.ninja/article-url”

That’s it. Takes five seconds and keeps the knowledge-sharing ecosystem healthy.

What You Can Do

Under CC BY 4.0, you’re free to:

Share: Copy and redistribute the code in any format
Adapt: Modify, remix, and build upon it
Use commercially: Yes, even in production products or consulting work

No need to ask permission. Just attribute.

What You Must Do

Give credit: Acknowledge the source with a link when reasonable
Note changes: If you modified the code, mention it
Keep it open: Don’t add restrictions that prevent others from doing what the license allows

Important Disclaimers

No warranty. This code is provided as-is. I do my best to write solid, working examples, but I’m not responsible if something breaks in your environment. Test thoroughly before production use.

Not production-hardened. My home lab isn’t your enterprise datacenter. The code demonstrates concepts and patterns, but you’ll likely need to adapt it for scale, error handling, logging, and your specific security requirements.

Your responsibility. You own the decision to use this code. Make sure it fits your needs, meets your standards, and complies with your organization’s policies.

Why Attribution Matters

I stumbled across a great Stack Overflow article about using other people’s code. It references the famous Picasso quote: “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.”

Here’s what that means: Taking something and pretending it’s yours is plagiarism. But truly “stealing” an idea means understanding it deeply enough to make it your own—learning from it, adapting it, and explaining it in your own way.

When you borrow code, it’s still someone else’s. When you understand it and integrate it into your work, you’ve made it yours. Either way, acknowledge where you learned it.

Attribution isn’t about ego. It’s about maintaining a functioning community where people share knowledge freely because they know they’ll get credit. Skip the attribution, and you’re cutting the thread that connects you to everyone who came before. Do the right thing.